Cadence
by Authenti
Summary: If you don't look for happiness, it will eventually seek you out on its own. A story of Forget-Me-Not Valley and its newest inhabitant. ..:Rated K for safety, rating may change:..


Dear Harley-

_Takakura here. I know you were never very close with your uncle after you passed the fifteen-year mark, but I thought you should know that he passed away a year ago. His last will and testament declares you to be the heir of his farmhouse and, by extension, the farmland._

_You can choose to sell it all on, of course, but I think I'd feel better if I knew it was going to good hands. So, I've enclosed the cash you'll need to get you to Forget-Me-Not Valley, if you want it. It'll be a big change, but your uncle always said you could handle it. You're a big girl now._

_-Takakura_

The girl in question laid the letter back on her knees and placed her hand over the top of it, shielding it from view of anyone who happened to glance over the edge of the cart. She laid back in the hay and turned her attention to the skies, watching the clouds with half-lidded eyes. The journey had been long; all she wanted was to collapse into a bed and sleep the rest of the afternoon away, or maybe just keep staring at the sky like this through her messy blonde fringe…

All too soon, the steady beats of the horse's hooves stopped, and the cart came juddering to a halt on the uneven cobbled road. Harley's eyes flickered open fully and she sat up with a groan, stretching her arms to ease the stiffness that had gathered in her joints.

"Last stop," the voice of the driver called out, and she let herself slide forwards off the end of the cart, stumbling forwards a few steps as she realised the hours of sitting doing nothing had turned her legs to jelly.

"Whoa, there!" She felt a hand on her shoulder, steadying her, and turned in alarm to view a grinning, ginger-haired woman with a friendly glint in her eyes. "Don't want you hurting yourself, do we? What's your name?"

"Harley. I'm Mr. Carver's daughter." She wasn't expecting the conversation to move along that quickly, but this woman had such a blunt personality…

Not that that was a bad thing. It wasn't always the easiest thing to read people and find they meant exactly the opposite of what they said… A break from that was welcome.

"Ah! Harley Carver, of course! We've been expecting you, honey. Ol' Takakura asked if I could walk you to the farm, but I'm kind of busy, so… _Celia!_"

At once, a shimmer of chestnut hair and a glint of an orange kerchief popped up from amongst the pleasant green plants nearby.

"Yes, Vesta? Oh! Hello!" Harley smiled and returned the girl's cheerful wave with a polite nod. "You must be Harley. Welcome to the valley!"

"Celia, be a sport and escort Miss Carver to her new home, eh?"

Celia nodded obediently and picked up the hem of her skirt, picking a way through the cornfield before she reached the fence and daintily climbed over it. "This way!"

Harley followed Celia like a baby duckling along the path, over a bridge and- good heavens, did that man have a cybernetic eye?

Celia followed her surprised stare and laughed softly. "Oh, don't mind him, that's just Doctor Hardy. Hello, Doctor!" she called, waving. The man glanced up from where he'd been watching the path as he walked, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he smiled and gave a short wave back. "Go on, wave. He's not all that scary once you get to know him," she added. Harley blinked at Celia for a second and then decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt, raising her hand and giving a timid wave. He smiled kindly at her and returned the gesture.

And, as they turned off the main path and headed up to the farm, and Harley saw Takakura waiting for them with her father's old dog by his side, all her previous worries about giving up her city life to come here vanished.

A loud knock sounded on the already-open door, and Harley turned to peer past the armful of bed-sheets she was carrying to meet Takakura's friendly gaze.

"Oh, hi," she smiled, her voice muffled through the dust of the sheets in her hands. "I was just clearing out the old stuff so I can do some dusting."

"Need any help?"

"No, no! I'm fine. Thank you."

Takakura shifted aside to let her pass, watching with vague interest as she dumped the sheets in a pile just outside the door and ventured back inside the house, grabbing a feather duster from the shelf and brandishing it like a weapon.

"I spoke to Celia earlier. She wanted to give you these. Said they're from Vesta." Harley looked down at the bundle of faded white fabric he was offering her at arm's length. The blank look on her face provoked him into explaining further. "They're turnip seeds."

And, suddenly, Harley didn't have the heart to tell anyone that she hadn't been planning on using the farmhouse as anything other than a home. After all, it couldn't be _that _hard to grow these things. And that slight feeling of envy when she'd stepped off the cart and right into view of a massive field of turnips… that cemented it. She could do it.

Harley took the bag from Takakura, surprising herself with how light it was, and stared at it for a while, losing herself in thought.

"I'll show you what to do when you're finished with the house." With that, her old guardian turned and trudged off to his own house just by the farm's exit.

Three days later, a pyjama-clad and panda-eyed Harley stumbled to open the door. Who would knock at this hour? She felt rather annoyed by this, but as she glanced over at the closed curtains and realised there was bright sunlight streaming through from the edges, she winced. Had she slept in?

Harley eased the door open and immediately shut her eyes against the glare, then rubbed frantically at them with one hand and tried to focus on the shaded figure that was waiting calmly for her to regain her composure.

"Mm…. M-morning," she mumbled sleepily.

"It's half past three in the afternoon," came a gruff reply. Harley made a passive grumbling sound. "I came to deliver some seeds. Vesta said we had none in stock yesterday, so you'd come to collect them today, but you didn't. I guess you forgot," he added under his breath, irritation apparent in his voice.

"Mm, do remember. Just woke up. Sorry." Harley held out her hand as her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness outside the house. Her mystery guest was wearing an all-too-bright white shirt and a pair of black trousers, and he had black hair. She wasn't going to think about the style in too much detail, for fear of making herself stare… "Thanks," she said simply, as the bag of potato seeds was dropped into her palm.

The man made to leave, but seemed to hesitate and began shuffling around awkwardly.

"…Listen… It's Celia's birthday tomorrow, so…"

"Is it? I'll be sure to get her something."

"…I was…" He cleared his throat, looking like he really didn't want to be there at that point. "…I was wondering if you knew what… what girls like."

Harley blinked at him vacantly for a moment and then surprised him with a sheepish grin. "Well, I'm probably the wrong girl to ask. I don't even know Celia too well – she's great, from what I've seen, but… I just moved here this week. Why ask me?"

"That's… kind of why. I mean, you don't know anyone, so you probably won't go around… telling people I asked." The man shook his head and turned to leave. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"No, no! Don't take it the wrong way. I'd love to help. What kind of girl is Celia? I'm pretty good with educated guesses. I'm Harley, by the way."

He glanced over his shoulder, then sighed and returned to his place by the door. "Marlin." He gave her a critical look as she offered her hand, then took it hesitantly and gave it a firm shake. "What do you mean?"

Harley leant against the door frame and folded her arms, heedless of the fact that she was still in a pink, silky nightshirt-and-shorts outfit. "Practical, or prissy?"

Marlin thought about this for a moment. "…Practical?"

Plus one tick to the mental checklist. Harley moved on. "Food – sweet or savoury?"

"…Well…" Marlin frowned. "Sweet. Maybe. But I don't want to get her chocolate. She likes it, but… she's not wild about it."

"Cake, then," Harley stated simply, with a bright smile. Marlin stared at her like she was insane. "Do you grow any fruit over at your place?"

"…We have some strawberry seeds, but we haven't grown any this year."

"Oh, that's right, there's not enough time. Right, er…" She snapped her fingers suddenly, making Marlin blink and step backwards warily. "I'll ask Thomas. I heard him mention Mineral Town's farmer growing strawberries by the bucketload. I'm sure we can call in a favour."

Marlin held up his hands defensively. "Whoa, whoa. I don't want to make a huge deal out of this."

"It's no trouble."

"No, I mean…"

"…You don't want me helping," she finished for him, grinning. "Celia doesn't have to know. Besides, can you bake a cake?" The dark-haired man fell silent. "Thought not. Okay," she said, clapping her hands together decisively; "come back at seven in the morning tomorrow. If you want to give it to her at about lunchtime, that leaves time for more than one try if we screw up the recipe, and I should have the ingredients by then."

Marlin took a moment's time-out to mull this over. Her plan seemed sound, even if she did seem to be acting a little rashly. He nodded reluctantly. "Then I'll ask Ruby if we can use her kitchen."

With the plans finalised, Harley shooed her visitor away and retreated back inside the farmhouse, picking up the phone and immediately dialling Thomas' number.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi, guys! Sorry to bug you, just fishing for reviews. I'll take anything I can get – even flames are welcome because to be perfectly honest an author's life is a very very lonely one. Drop me a review, and receive my eternal gratitude!

…Also, things will pick up in the next chapter. Somehow I always start with an awkward first chapter.


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